Private Sale vs. Trading in: What is The Best Way to Sell a Car?

You have owned your vehicle for a few years now, and have decided that the time has come to upgrade to a better one. Or at least one that isn’t as old. Which usually means better. There are two ways you can do this.

Trade in car with a dealer or sell on the private market. Which one should you choose? It depends on what you want. Let us now explore what the pros and cons are for the two different methods, shall we?

Trading Your Car in

This is the method for all of those out there who want to get the whole ordeal over as fast as possible. There are a few benefits that go with trading our vehicle , but perhaps the most obvious of them all is the fact that the sale will be over within a day.

That doesn’t mean that you should fore-go cleaning your car out or researching how much to value your car at. And there is still the problem of successful negotiations. However, the speed at which the sale will take place is a great selling point.

But that isn’t all. You can also fore-go the necessity for doing any major repairs on the vehicle that need doing. Dealerships often take on vehicles that are damaged, if the damage is minor, like panel work and so forth. So this is also a great way to sell a car that has gotten old.

The huge drawback is the fact that the car will be valued less than it would be privately. This is so that the dealership can actually make money out of the vehicle in question.

Selling Your Car Privately

This is the method you should choose if you want to make the most money that you can out of the sale of your vehicle. As has been explained above, trading a car in will mean compromising how much your car is worth, as the dealership wants to make money out of it. Which is why they will pay less. But selling privately cuts out the middle man, and all the money from the sale of the car is going to you. How great! What could possibly be a con for this method?

Well, for one, it takes a lot more effort to do it this way. You have to get repairs made on the car. You have to advertise it. That includes taking photos, writing up an ad, and putting the advert up on numerous different sites, some of which will cost money.

On top of that, it will take longer than a single day to sell. A week at the least, up to a few months at the most. And you will have to talk to a lot of different prospective customers during that time, most of whom won’t buy your car but will kick the tyres.

Conclusion

As you can see, each method has its drawbacks and compromises. The one you choose will depend on how much time you have and how much effort you want to put in. Have fun and good luck!